Further changes to Universal Credit health element rules from April

4 mins read

Friday 13 February 2026

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has published new regulations this week that should increase the number of people who receive higher Universal Credit health element payments when rules change in April.

What is the health element of Universal Credit?

The health element is also known as the limited capability for work- and work-related activity (LCWRA) element. It is an additional payment in your Universal Credit award where you have health problems and have been assessed as having LCWRA. Currently it is paid at a flat rate of £423.27 per calendar month.

How is the health element changing from April?

From 6 April, the health element will be paid at one of two rates. There will be a higher rate of £429.80 per month and a new lower rate of £217.26 per month. The higher rate will be paid to three groups of Universal Credit claimants:

  • Pre-existing claimants – this is known as being a ‘pre-2026’ claimant.
  • New claimants who are terminally ill.
  • New claimants who meet new severe conditions criteria.

To meet the severe conditions criteria, you must both:

  • Have a life-long condition that a practitioner acting on behalf of the NHS has diagnosed.
  • Be assessed as “constantly” meeting at least one of the LCWRA descriptors used in the work capability assessment.

What difference do the new regulations published this week make?

The new regulations increase the number of people who will be classed as a pre-2026 claimant. These claimants are automatically protected to receive the higher rate of the health element.

The new regulations mean that anyone who has claimed Universal Credit before 6 April, and who also has requested that their capacity for work be assessed before that same date, should be treated as a pre-2026 claimant. It doesn’t matter if their entitlement to a health element starts from a later date.  

Until now, it was understood that to be protected as a pre-2026 claimant, you not only needed to have claimed Universal Credit on or before 5 April 2026. You also would have needed to have an entitlement to the health element that started on or before that date.

Protected if you claim before 6 April

You will therefore be protected as a pre-2026 claimant if you are a Universal Credit claimant who either:

  • Is awaiting a work capability assessment before 6 April and you are awarded LCWRA at a later date.
  • Already has LCWRA, but entitlement to the LCWRA element is not yet in place because of the three-month “qualifying period”. (There is normally a three-month period between first submitting fit notes as part of a Universal Credit claim and getting the health element added to the award.)

A disabled adult who claims Universal Credit and asks for their capacity for work to be assessed before 6 April should be protected.

People moving onto Universal Credit from ESA

The new regulations also benefit some people who move from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal Credit.

ESA claimants will be protected as a pre-2026 claimant, even if they claim Universal credit after 5 April. For this to apply, you must:

  • Be entitled to a support component as part of an ESA award on 5 April 2026.
  • Continue to receive this ESA support component until the date you eventually claim Universal Credit.

My child will claim Universal Credit after 5 April. He had previously established LCWRA via a credits-only claim for ESA. Will he be protected?

No, unfortunately not.

The rules allowing someone to be protected as a pre-2026 claimant, even though they claim Universal Credit after 5 April, only apply to claimants who have an actual award of ESA. It doesn’t apply to those who don’t get ESA, but who have instead established LCWRA via a ‘credits only’ claim.

A young person who has established LCWRA via a ‘credits-only’ claim for ESA will only be protected as a pre-2026 claimant if they manage to successfully claim Universal Credit on or before 5 April.

If your young person is still in education, they may not have the option of claiming Universal Credit before 5 April. This is because they may be caught by the rules preventing many students from getting Universal Credit.

If, because of their studies, your child does not get Universal credit until some date after 5 April 2026, they will not be classed as a pre-2026 claimant. This remains the case even if they have already established LCWRA via a credits-only claim for ESA. In this scenario, your young person’s chances of getting the higher rate of the health element as part of their later Universal Credit claim will depend on whether they meet the new severe conditions criteria.

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